The Chicago Cubs are down 3-0 now against the New York Mets in the 2015 NLCS, but you wouldn't know it if you walked into the Cubs' locker room today. Skipper Joe Maddon is known for having a zen-like, relaxed mentality, and even though every contest from here on out (starting with Game 4) is an elimination game, his point has been made clear that he'll be keeping things "business as usual" for his young squad.
"It's just about tomorrow," Maddon said at his press conference after the game last night. "Of course, we have to win four in a row -- absolutely -- but I want us just to concentrate on tomorrow's game, that's it."
Maddon won't be doing anything differently; there won't be any team meetings, he doesn't believe in them, or dramatic speeches. Despite the inexperience on this team, the manager knows that his guys are professionals and they'll get themselves ready.
The Cubs clearly have their work cut out for them. Down 3-0, only one team has ever come back from such a deficit. Coincidentally, it was done by a team that had a major drought of winning the World Series, had Theo Epstein building the roster and played against a team from New York. That team was the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Maddon even hinted at the parallels during his press conference, but knows that his team simply has to go out there and find a way to win.
"We can think about those things; we can think about the parallels; think about the fact that it happened against a New York team," Maddon said. "But it's up to us to go out there and play, perform and execute. So I really put all my stock and faith into the fact that I know our guys are ready to play tomorrow ... Just try to win tomorrow's game."
All this team can do is focus on tomorrow's game and go, as ESPN Chicago's David Kaplan likes to put it, "one batter, one pitch, one out at a time."
The Cubs and Mets square off in Game 4 tonight at 7:07 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field, and will be televised on TBS.
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